Filling gaps, but also finding others

I believe practical experience is such a crucial and essential aspect of any university degree, even more so now that I am completing real industry experience. It is one thing to learn from books and the second hand knowledge of professors and research, but it is a complete other thing to apply the knowledge we learn in a real world environment. Prior to my internship placement, I didn't feel ready or excited at the prospect of graduating and applying for jobs, as I felt underprepared and disconnected from the 'adult' world. During our university years, we are very much cocooned in the university experience; we are undergraduate students, we learn and we are assessed by our teachers, but generally our work over our three plus years is not effective in impacting the outside world. Unless we go out and actively seek experience, or are made to complete compulsory experience through units, we are not exposed to the real industry. I know a lot of people who have graduated from university and haven't been able to find jobs within their degree industry. Most of these people didn't have any real industry experience. Industry experience is so essential in not only building confidence and skill levels, but also in demonstrating to future employers your commitment to your education. 

I have made it my priority over the last three years to actively gain as much life experience as possible. I have volunteered in Tanzania Africa, studied abroad in America, worked with farmers in rural Western Australia and interned with an events/marketing company for a year where I worked at events like Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Sydney. Ive also worked in administration and customer service/sales roles. While I recognise the importance of academic results and grades, my personal goal is to best prepare myself for the real world. Still after all this, I feel like this semester, interning at Programmed and working in a marketing assistant position at Curtin, are the real experiences that matter. These two experiences have shaped my ambitions and goals for my future career and helped me identify the direction I really want to go. In my opinion, real industry experience is the most valuable asset for a young and upcoming profession. 

While industry experience does help you shape your goals, likes and dislikes within the industry, one of the major things my internship has helped me understand is the gaps in my knowledge. It has helped me identify the areas that my university degree didn't cover and areas where I could grow my skills to make me more attractive to potential employers. After undertaking my internship, I believe that every PR student should have the opportunity to take basics units in marketing, event management and advertising. As a PR professional, you are expected to have basic knowledge in these areas and be able to perform basic functions. These functions also apply to a wide range of positions in the business industry in general. Another area I noticed massive opportunity, was knowing how to use Microsoft, Adobe suite, i.e. photoshop, and online/ social media effectively. Most job applications these days have these skills listed as either essential or desirable. I believe units in utilising these communication tools would provide even greater and further knowledge for Curtin University students. Graphic design skills are also a great additional knowledge tool, even just to be able to understand and brief graphic design professionals how you would like documents and designs. 

For my own personal benefit, Im hoping to take additional courses, whether they are online or at TAFE, to add to my skill set. I think it would be advantageous for universities in the future to look into offering some of these options to students. 

Thanks for reading! 

Feel free to comment below if you have found any other gaps or filled any gaps in your knowledge during your internship placement - would love to hear what other Curtin students think.

Chloe